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Genesis 22:22-23
Genesis 24:14-25
Background: Sarah had died and Abraham wanted a bride of their
people for Isaac so he sent his servant to Nahor’s hometown
to seek a bride. I find it interesting that Isaac was 40 years
old and no one had been concerned about him having a wife until
his mother died. Isaac may have been a mama’s boy. When
Sarah died, Abraham recognized that Isaac needed a wife to
comfort him in his grief and to keep him out of trouble.
Abraham’s servant went looking for a bride for Isaac,
however he didn’t go with a list in hand. He didn’t
have a specific plan of where he was going. He wasn’t going
to ride up to the first farm and ask for a woman. As he traveled
the servant prayed. He not only prayed…he prayed
specifically. He told God his plan was to go to the well. Now
that makes sense since water had to be drawn from the well and
the women had the job of getting the water. The servant knew that
just going to a place where the women would gather wasn’t
enough. He wanted God’s direction so he prayed and told God
what he wanted the right woman to say and do. There is nothing as
exciting as knowing that God is directing your life because He
answered a specific prayer.
Now let’s look at Rebekah personally. Rebekah was beautiful.
Genesis 24:16
Rebekah was a hard worker. Going after water for the family was
her job. Drawing water for a visiting man was a thoughtful thing
to do. Water his camels was a “God Thing”. It was in
fact the specific sign the servant had prayed for.
Besides being beautiful and a hard worker, I believe that Rebekah
was greedy. Genesis 24:30 and Genesis 24:58
I believe that Rebekah was spiritually shallow. Through this
passage and other that refer to Rebekah, I haven’t found any
mention of her faith or desire to do something because of God’s
leading.
Rebekah faced one heartbreak as a new bride, she was barren for
20 years. When faced with this loss the Bible doesn’t
mention Rebekah praying to have children. It does mention that
Isaac prayed for her. Genesis 25:21 and then she conceived twins.
While carrying twins and feeling the babies moving she finally
talked to God. And she complained. Genesis 25:22
After the babies were born Isaac and Rebekah made a horrible
mistake. They each picked a favorite and then the sibling rivalry
began. Genesis 26:34-35 At 40 years old Essau married a local
girl which upset his parents. (Isaac was 100 years old and yet he
had done nothing to procure a proper bride for his either of his
sons.)
Essau was impatient and exaggerated things. Jacob was sneaky and
willing to lie to get his own way. Rebekah played favorites
between her sons. She helped her favorite son lie to and deceive
his father, Isaac. She deceived her husband into encouraging her
favorite son to go away for awhile until his brother got over
being mad. While she saved his life, it cost her dearly because
she never saw Jacob again.
It is very important for us as women to pray for our husbands and
families. It is equally as important for us to remember that
showing favoritism with our children causes tension, rivalry,
tension, separation and grief. Children are people watchers and
they will pick up your habits either good or bad!
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